I Finally Get How Darth Vader Saw Emperor Palpatine, And It Makes Star Wars Way More Tragic

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #2! Darth Vader’s relationship with Emperor Palpatine is one of the darkest aspects of the Star Wars franchise, as it was a relationship that originally resembled a bond between a father and son, but slowly soured into deep-seated manipulation and spiritual corruption. And Darth Vader’s perception of their relationship makes the whole thing way more tragic in Star Wars canon, and I didn’t fully understand it until now.

In Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #2 by Charles Soule and Luke Ross, Kylo Ren and Vaneé (a former attendant who served Darth Vader on Mustafar) are on Tatooine, despite the fact that Kylo Ren thinks their being there is a total waste of time. This series is set between the events of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, and it follows Kylo Ren as he tries to learn more about his grandfather, Darth Vader. Lucky for him, Kylo has Vaneé to turn to, who knows everything there is to know about Vader after serving him for years.

Vaneé didn’t just attend to Darth Vader’s every need in Fortress Vader, he also went mad from the lava fumes on Mustafar, which made him utterly obsessed with Darth Vader - even after Vader’s death following the Battle of Endor. After Vader and Palpatine were killed, Vaneé hacked into Palpatine’s archives to learn the secrets of Darth Vader’s life that his master never shared. Vaneé is an integral part of Kylo Ren’s journey to learn more about his grandfather, but more than that, the knowledge he holds has incredibly tragic implications.

Darth Vader Shared Intimate Secrets with Emperor Palpatine

Darth Vader Actually Considered Palpatine His Friend, & That’s Heartbreaking

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Throughout the movies and even the canon Star Wars comics (set during the events of the Original Trilogy), Emperor Palpatine calls Darth Vader “my friend”. I always assumed that he did this as a way to further torment Vader, as Emperor Palpatine was well aware that Darth Vader wanted nothing more than to murder him following his dark side corruption. However, as this new Star Wars: Legacy of Vader comic seems to confirm, Darth Vader did actually consider Emperor Palpatine to be his friend throughout his time as Palpatine’s Sith apprentice.

By revealing how he obtained this information about Darth Vader, Vaneé confirms that Darth Vader confided in Emperor Palpatine many times over the years, telling him secrets that he didn’t want anyone to know - including the fact that he fell in love with Padmé on Tatooine, and that he slaughtered an entire Tusken village. While I know that Vader shared most of this information with Palpatine back when he was still the Jedi Anakin Skywalker - when he thought Palpatine was nothing more than a politician - I can’t shake the feeling that this was their relationship for years afterward as well.

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Palpatine corrupted Anakin by earning his trust, and then using the secrets Anakin told him to twist his mind (through fake Force-visions in his dreams), which led Anakin to the dark side. However, Palpatine didn’t stop corrupting Anakin after he became Darth Vader, as that was just the beginning of their master/apprentice relationship. Emperor Palpatine was a master manipulator, so it makes sense that he would nurture the relationship Vader thought they had, only to further exploit him - keeping Vader locked in his dark side clutches. And, all the while, Darth Vader actually thought they were friends.

Star Wars is Explaining Why Kylo Ren Never Trusted Palpatine

Kylo Ren Always Planned on Betraying Palpatine, Even After Agreeing to Help Him

This new Star Wars comic book series isn’t just showing fans how Kylo Ren got to know Darth Vader, but also how he learned about all the manipulation tactics of Emperor Palpatine. Just from this one exchange with Vaneé alone, Kylo Ren is already learning to despise Emperor Palpatine for how he used his grandfather. That explains why Kylo Ren immediately seeks out Emperor Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker, not to align with him, but to kill him. And even when Kylo Ren agreed to help Palpatine on Exegol, he always planned on betraying him, as he was never going to trust Palpatine the way his grandfather did.

Kylo Ren is learning the tragic truth that Darth Vader considered Emperor Palpatine his friend, even after Palpatine utterly ruined his life, which is why Kylo immediately hates Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker. However, while learning this truth in hindsight is enough to ensure Kylo Ren doesn’t fall for Palpatine’s tricks, it isn’t enough to save Darth Vader himself, who fell victim to Palpatine’s manipulations again and again throughout his Star Wars history. This just goes to show how deep Emperor Palpatine’s hooks went, and how abused Darth Vader was as his apprentice - and I didn’t fully appreciate that until now.

Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #2 by Marvel Comics is available now.